Surrounded by the marvels of all the electronic capabilities among us today, I have put pen to paper to wish you a joyous holiday season. In the lifetime of our son, Edwards, we may see pen and paper become historic tools. So, while I can, I want to share a holiday message with each of you.

With Russian President Dmitry Medvedev issuing threats about America's planned missile defense for Europe, it may be time to remind the Obama administration why we need such defenses in the first place -- in Europe and elsewhere.

If the data from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is right, there's at least one planet with the potential of harboring life. Perhaps, based on the data, there are thousands upon thousands of such worlds.

Karl Rove, a star political strategist, is outraged that Donald Trump, a star real-estate mogul and reality show host, is staging a reality show with real Republican presidential candidates and calling it a debate. Yet, with all due respect, Trump is only exploiting a process that political strategists like Rove already hijacked.

Basketball fans knew a lot about former Ohio State center Greg Oden when he made the jump to the NBA in 2007. They knew he was going to be the Portland Trail Blazers' top pick in the draft that year. They knew he was one of the best collegiate players at the time. And they knew he had a chance to be a once-in-a-generation player in the pros. But there was also chatter that he could one day be one of the biggest disappointments in league history.

Here in the Chronicle-Independent newsroom, we're kind of shaking our collective head about the news which broke Tuesday about the early-morning heist of a complete automatic teller machine (ATM) from Mid Carolina Credit Union in Lugoff. The thief or thieves apparently used a large, stolen piece of equipment to rip the ATM from its concrete base and load it into or onto some sort of vehicle, almost surely a truck, given an ATM's size and weight.

Every day, in every area of our state, hardworking South Carolina taxpayers are being robbed. They are not held up at gunpoint and their homes are not burglarized. But, they are the victims of theft just the same. Criminals are stealing federal funds and using that money for their personal benefit. They are committing fraud against the food stamp program. In fact, they pocket more than $2 million of your tax dollars every year in South Carolina alone.